Tag Archives: Tourism

Sometimes, through pure chance, you discover a seemingly completely out of place sight in a city in Japan!

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At the very end of Honcho Street in Yoshiwara,Fuji City, I discovered what could be considered the tackiest building in Shizuoka Prefecture: Arabian Nights Build Raika III!

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The side entrance to the access to the joints on the side of the buuilding.
Mind you it just for a field day for a photographer in search of the unusual of of the very bad taste of an era gone!

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Stairway to heaven?

It is actually still very much in use!
Obviously the whole building houses entertainments of the dubious kind…
Interestingly enough, the name of “Yoshiwara” is found in many a city in Japan as the name for the local “amusement quarters”!

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I wonder if ladies invite customers from that veranda at night?

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Two of the signs say “Holy Night” and “Casanova”!

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The flowers on the first flower means that a new place has just opened!

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Not short of well-wishers!

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Stained glass windows?

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Pity I didn’t have the time to admire it with all the neon lights ablaze at night!

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Did you know that the color “pink” in Japan means the same as the color “blue” in Western countries? LOL

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An emergency escape route for a pennyless customer?

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A Ramen Club! Serious!

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Still a Chinese Dragon is a bit out of place, a desert jinn wuld have been more appropriate!

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The irony of it all is that the back exit of the alley opens onto a large Buddhist temple cemetery!
From Paradise to Hell, or vice versa?

Access:
Get off at Yoshiwara JR Railway Station along the Tokaido railway Line. Transfer to the Yaoshiwara Station of the private Gakunan Railways and get off at “Yoshiwara Honcho” Station.
Walk straight till the very end of Honcho Street!

With all the mergers enacted these past years, it has become difficult to explain locations in Shizuoka Prefecture!
Yoshiwara is now integral part of Fuji City but its JR Railway Station is distinct!
First get off Yoshiwara Station and walk to the private Gakunan raliway Line Yoshiwara Station and board a train to Yoshiwara Honcho Station (bear mind that many stations have very similar names!).
Walk towards Honcho Street.

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Keep your eyes open as you will discover all kinds of manhole covers, mostly fire hydrant covers either of geometrical designs or full designs either plain or colored, either on the pavement or on the very street!

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A large plain Mount Fuji manhole cover!

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The same in a smaller type!

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But the real discoveries are to be made along the street parallel on your right you will reach by discovering the Tenjin Shinto Shrine/天神社 at the first intersection! you will find the first remarkable manhole cover right in front of the shrine gate!

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A beautifully colored Mount Fuji!

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What is this one!

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“Kaguyahime/かぐや姫/The bamboo Girl Legend”, the manhole cover generally considered as the most beautiful in Japan, complete with Mount Fuji!

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Keep your eyes open!

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Another fire hydrant manhole cover! These are often surrounded with a square yellow frame for better sighting at night!
This design is pretty common all over Japan, but a small crest design will tell you the exact location!

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A beautiful fire truck design, also pretty common throughout Japan but once again the small crest design will make the difference!

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Don’t overlook the small gas valve covers as they sometimes have all kinds of designs!

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Another one still with same crest design!

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And another one!

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This one is from the Shizuoka Gas Company found all over the Prefecture!

The other day I actually spent 3 hours waling from Sakurabashi Station, Shizutetsu line to Shin Shimizu Station circling around under the very mountains. before crossing Route 1 to turn back to the latter station I discovered the entrance of that particular shrine at the bottom of a lonely “hill”.

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It wasn’t that big, but the flight of stairs was so tempting!

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Made of concrete, the torii/main gate and its plaque are not that old, but they were already pretty worn out.

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The flight of stairs is climbing through a bamboo copse.

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About walking between two fairly old stone lanterns/ishidourou!

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The “haiden/main hall for worshippers”!

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More stone lanterns. I wondered about their motifs.

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A stag for one!

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A cloud!

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A mountain!

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More older stone lanterns!

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A small roofed hand washing stone basin!

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Let’s have a look at this other more recent stone lantern!

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A doe and a cloud!

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And three mountains!

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Beautiful enough for another picture!

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But I must say I was most impressed with the “komaini/Shishi/lion guards!

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The left one, always a mouth-shut lion, with its paw resting on the back of a smaller one!

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The right one, always with its mouth open!

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With its paw on a ball!
Notice the unusual red painting!

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The “haiden/main hall for worshippers!

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“Yasaka Jinja/八坂神社/Yasaka Shrine”!

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A smaller torii/gate at the back!

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The “honden/God’s hall” closed to the public!

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The back of the honden!

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The pinion denoting that this shrine is dedicated to a female Goddess!

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The whole place is surrounded with ancient pine trees!

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Taking a peek at a dragon under the roof of the honden!

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A last look at the roof and pinion!

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There was another small shrine or “kamidana” behind the haiden past the small torii!

Mishima City, after a long dormancy following the bubble era seems to steadily enter a new era with new restaurants, bars and shops to cater for an increasing touristic clientele thanks to the nearby Mount Fuji and many more attractions.
It is a city where, if you keep one eye on the pavement and anther above head, you can make some interesting discoveries!
The latest one for my part is a single side of a single street lined up with a series of shop signs, some directly inspired by many found in Europe displayed in obvious cooperation!
let me show them:

South of Shizuoka JR Station in Suruga Ku, in Yahata/八幡 (the locals pronounce it “Yaata”!) stands a small mountain called Hyahata San/八幡山 full of history hwere you can discover no less than three different Shinto Shrines and enjoy a splendid view of Mount Fuji!

The roofed stone hand-washing basin!

The stone hand wash basin where worshipers and casual visitors are asked to purify themselves (Harai 祓い) of impurity!

It even has a cute dragon as a water spout!

A row of old small stone shrines behind the basin!

The Kannushi/神主/Shrine priest’s son in front of the Hachimangu/八幡宮 Shrine, the main but not the oldes of the three shrines found on that spot!

They even sell baked sweet potatoes as a practice for the kids for the annual festival held on August the 15th!

The priest and family’s home doubling as a shrine office!
Note that this is a small shrine, therefore the priest needs another job to survive!

Still has and antique entrance porch!

The “shishi/獅子” or “Komainu/狛犬”/lion guard on the left “roaring” to scare demons.
The rice straw garland/shimenawa/注連縄 around both lion guards has a special meaning as they have stood there for exactly 100 years!

The “smiling” (actually his closed mouth means that he shelters and keeps in the good spirits) is also stadning on a pedestal made of volcanic rocks collected on the slopes of Mount Fuji!

The shrine festival chariot, unfortunately idle for lack of hands!

A small “kamidana/神棚/shrine with a “mon/文/crest” decorated money offerings box!

“Ema/絵馬/votive plaques”!

It has its own “sumo ring (dohyo/土俵)!

The Haiden 拝殿 or Worship Hall!

Some welcome information and advice!

The Haiden 拝殿 or Worship Hall with its “shimenawa/注連縄/rice straw garland, praying bells and their ropes and a money offerings box!

A lion guard on the roof!

The ancient “Hachimangu/八幡宮” Shrine name plaque!

Ancient sake/酒/rice wine offering vessels!

A more modern, probably donated, lantern!

A peek inside with sumo wrestlers’ hands prints!

The flight of stairs leading to the other two shrines!

Take the short flight on your right!

The Inari Daimyoujin（稲荷大明神) dedicated to Inari/稲荷 (the god/goddess of agriculture)!

It is actually very small!

There are actually two small kamidana/神棚/shrines facing each other!

The other one!

The flight of stairs leading to the third shrine!

A red torii/鳥居/sacred bird gate, this one with straight members, or shinmei torii 神明鳥居!

Another shrine whose purpose I could not fathom!

Getting near the Hie Shrin/日吉, which is dedicated to the mountain kami/神/god Sannō 山王!

The Hie Shrine!

I surmise that this building is there to store shrine regalia!

Two smaller kamidana/神棚/shrines before reaching the Haiden 拝殿 or Worship Hall!

Its entrance is flanked with two stone lanterns!

The cloud and deer motifs!

The mountain motif!

There is actually a flight of stairs access from the Hachimangu Shrine!

The Hie Shrine Haiden 拝殿 or Worship Hall with a gate, which is more here to d\fend off unwanted viistors than anything else as it is not locked!
There used to be another building alongside but it disappeared a long time ago in a fire.

The nawa/縄/rice straw garland/nawa with white paper that is cut into strips and hung from this garland/rope, called shime 注連 or gohei, which symbolizes purity in the Shintō faith!

There are many known and not so known reasons to keep an attentive eye on the City of Shimada in Shizuoka prefecture, the more for it with the noticeable increase in foreign tourists thanks to the increasingly busy Fujisan Shizuoka Aiport in The same City of Shimada!

Tourists disembarking from the Airport should spare a minute to look at a big billboard outside Shimada Railway Station as it is written in no less than three languages, English, Chinese and Korean, depicting the three major festivals held in this City!

The Shimada Taisei (Obi Festival)!

This Festival has been held since 1695 and is one of the so-called three strangest Festivals in japan!
It is being held every years!

Photo taken on 1th of October 2013!

The big attraction of course is the parade held with the 25 “Oyakko” dressed in attire of yore carrying umbrellas and long wooden swords draped with expensive traditional cloth!

The last Shimada Taisei (Obi Festival) was held in 2013, and will be held in 2016 and 2019 (Rugby World Cup Year which will include venues in Shizuoka Prefecture!)!

The second big festival is the “Kanaya Tea Festival!

Kanaya used to be a city of its own before it was recently merged with Shimada City, but it has preserved its own true identity.
Every two years no less than 1,000 “Tea Gilrs/Cha Musume” of all ages and status parade along the main street to celebrate the budding of the tea leaves every two years in the second week of April!

Photo taken on the 13th of April 2014!

Actually almost the whole population of Kanaya is taking part!
But there are many more opportunities for great pictures and videos!